Serena Williams made a successful, if erratic, return to the Australian Open Tuesday, beating Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
The heavily anticipated match was not quite the tussle observers expected. Bencic, 19, already has already beaten Williams, and she is considered to be one of the most promising young players on tour.
But both players struggled early to find their range. Williams ran up an early 3-1 lead in the set, but Bencic broke back to level the set. Williams then broke away, breaking back to win the opening set using a couple of timely returns.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion pulled away in the second set, using depth and variety to draw errors from the Swiss. Williams jumped out to a 5-0 lead and as it seemed like Williams was cruising to an easy win, Bencic rattled off a streak of three games of her own. But Williams closed the match on her second match point when Bencic netted a backhand.
Observers pointed to this match as the beginning of a potentially tough draw for Williams. She started her 2017 campaign with a loss to fellow American Madison Brengle at a warmup event in Auckland in the second round, and ended her 2016 season after losing in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.
After the match, Williams praised Bencic.
“She’s such a great player,” Williams said. “It’s probably one of the toughest first-round matches I’ve ever played.”
She declined to address her pursuit of a record-tying 23rd major.
“I have nothing to lose … right now, I’m playing for fun.
“I’m just happy to be playing.”
Williams will face Lucie Safarova in the second round, who survived nine match points in the second set to stage a comeback against Yanina Wickmayer, 3, 6, 7-6(9), 6-1.
